Warning! Spoilers for Avengers #52 ahead!
The newest Starbrand was recently revealed to be the strongest member of the Avengers, not just in the 616 universe but in the entire Multiverse of realities. The rapidly-aging child named Brandy is not the first Starbrand to appear in Marvel Comics, but compared to her predecessors her power levels are unprecedented. The events of the ongoing Avengers series make it possible to theorize that this is because Brandy is something more than just the latest host for the Starbrand: she is an Elder of the Multiverse
In Marvel Comics, an Elder of the Universe is a cosmic being who is the last of their respective species. It has never really been made clear how this contributes to their power levels but this, and the across the whole Multiverse, making her not only an Elder of the Universe but also an Elder of the Multiverse.
Avengers #52 by Jason Aaron, Juan Frigeri, and David Curiel shows Brandy, Captain America, and Captain Marvel visiting the house of Brandy’s late mother Suzanne Selby when they are confronted by a pack of reality-hopping Deathlocks. The Deathlocks hail Brandy as the greatest Avenger of her era and dub her “Holy Starchilde. The Great Multiversal Polaris, whose sunlight shines on all corners of creation.” They then come under attack by the Black Skull, a version of the Red Skull ed with a symbiote, and Ghost Goblin, a version of Norman Osborn who wields the Spirit of Vengeance. Both are of the Multiversal Masters of Evil, a team of multi-dimensional supervillains currently traveling between realities and destroying them. When confronted by Brandy, both villains are surprised by the presence of a Starbrand. Black Skull comments, “They’re all meant to be burned out by now.” This causes Ghost Goblin to observe, “Guess this kid’s the last of her species and doesn’t know it.”
The theory of Brandy as an Elder of the Multiverse is seemingly given weight here by the fact that both sets of multiversal visitors, the Deathlocks and the Masters of Evil, identify Brandy as something unique across all realities. The Deathlocks identify her as both the greatest Avenger in any reality and also some sort of messiah-figure in the Multiverse, which immediately chimes with the way Elders like Nathaniel Richards are often depicted in the Marvel Universe. It’s hard to imagine Brandy would be so revered if she was simply another in an infinite collection of variants.
The comments from Black Skull and Ghost Goblin give this theory even more credence: Goblin confirms outright that Brandy is the last of her kind, seemingly referring to Starbrands. This suggests that Starbrand avatars were once much more common; potentially meaning that the cosmic power was shared among many individuals rather than concentrated in a single individual. If Brandy is the last in the entire Multiverse it could mean that all of the power of the Starbrand is concentrated in her, which would explain her incredible power. What is clear is that Avengers is setting up their strongest hero to be something more than just the latest iteration of the Starbrand.
